A comprehensive study submitted to the Korea National Oil Corporation has revealed that the Ulleung Basin, the site of the ongoing East Sea deep-sea gas field development (dubbed the Giant Whale Project), may contain an additional 5.17 billion barrels of gas and oil reserves.
On Monday, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy and the Korea National Oil Corporation disclosed that ActGeo, a U.S.-based deep-sea technology assessment firm, delivered a report last December titled “Additional Prospectivity Assessment of the Ulleung Basin.”
ActGeo previously conducted the physical exploration analysis of the East Sea’s Giant Whale Prospect, which the government announced in June last year could potentially contain up to 14 billion barrels of oil and gas.
The government has initiated a verification process with experts to verify the report’s findings, which is expected to conclude by March. If the claims are validated, the total estimated gas and oil reserves in the East Sea’s deep-sea area would surpass 19 billion barrels.
The supplementary analysis of the Ulleung Basin identified 14 promising geological structures with significant potential for gas and oil reserves. These structures are estimated to contain between 680 million and 5.17 billion barrels of resources. The most promising structure, named Goblin Shark, is projected to hold up to 1.29 billion barrels of gas and oil.
However, further expert scrutiny is required as the Korea National Oil Corporation has only received the initial assessment results. This verification process will primarily involve domestic specialists from academic institutions.
A Korea National Oil Corporation spokesperson stated, “As part of our East Sea deep-sea gas field project, the corporation has commissioned an additional prospective assessment of the Ulleung Basin.” He added, “We intend to ensure the reliability of these findings through expert consultations and rigorous verification in the coming weeks.”